Means for preventing clogging of sand-pipes



G. H. JOHNSON. MEANS FOR PREVENTING CLOGGING 0F SAND Fl'PES,

APPLICATION FILED OCT. H 3, l9l9,

Patented May 25, 192% Ar 1/ E N TUE al/ 5231260224 BY u %L(M\ 2&

GEORGE HENRY JOHNSON, OF HATTIESBURG, MISSISSIPPI.

MEANS FOR PREVENTING CLOGGING OF SAND-PIPES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 25, 1920.

Application filed October 18, 1919. Serial No. 331,544.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnonos HENRY J OHN- soN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Hattiesbur in the county of Forrest and Stateof Mississippi, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMeans for Preventing Clogging of at or adjacent to the discharge end ofthe pipe, where clogging commonly occurs at the present time.

In carrying out this object my invention proposes the use of an airsupply attachment under control of the operator, for instance alocomotive engineer or a street railway motorman, this attachment beingused in such a way as to accomplish another obj ect of the invention,which is to direct the sand exactly where it is desired and most useful,in spite of the influence of wind or other exterior force.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating my present invention, andforming a part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a side view showing the practical application of myinvention, and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged central vertical section through the discharge endof the said. p1 e.

eferring now to these figures, and particularly to Fig. 1, I haveindicated a sand pipe generally at 10, the discharge end 11 of which isslightly angular in order to direct the sand into the crotch of a wheel,to the point Where it is desired, although this delivery of sand isoften impeded, as at resent utilized, by wind or other exteriormfluence.

Accordin to my improvement, I utilize an air supp y pipe 12 which maylead from the main air drum, and which has an angular fitting 13extending into and through the wall of the pipe 10, with a terminalnozzle 14 directed toward the discharge end 11 of the sand pipe and, asbest seen in Fig.

2, located adjacent to the said discharge end and in the axial line ofthe pipe.

Sand pipes very often become clogged at or near the extreme dischargeend owing to moisture, snow and ice, and in addition to directing thesand under pressure to the points where it is desired, my improvedattachment will provide effective means for maintaining the dischargeend of the pipe free and open at all times.

In case the discharge end of the pipe is clogged with. ice andconsiderable pressure required for the dislodgment of this ice throughthe nozzle M, it is preferable that the sand pipe shall also have anair'outlet pipe 15, one end of which is connected to the sand pipe at apoint farther removed from the discharge end 11 thereof as compared tothe nozzle 14:, thus allowing the high pres sure derived from pipe 12 tofind ready escape when it collects within the sand pipe previous todislodgment of the ice by the air blast.

The supply of air to the pipe 1.2 is controlled in any suitable manneras by means of a control and cut off valve 16, which is normally closedand which in practice may be located within a locomotive cab, or inother words, under ready control of the op erator.

I claim 1. The combination with a sand delivery pipe, of an air nozzlelocated therein adjacent to its discharge end, and directed toward saiddischarge end, a valved air supply pipe communicating with said nozzle,and a pressure exhausting pipe having communication at one end with thesaid sand pipe at a point farther removed from the discharge end thanthe said nozzle.

2. The combination with a sand delivery pipe, of an air nozzle locatedtherein and directed toward the discharge end of the pipe, air supplymeans in communication with said nozzle, and a pressure exhaustingconnection leading from the sand pipe and opening exteriorly thereof ata point farther removed from the discharge end of the pipe than the saidair nozzle.

GEORGE HENRY JOHNSON.

